It was Florence Nightingale who set down the foundation of professional nursing in the 1850s during the Crimean War with her relentless work in the medical field by bringing about a reform in sanitation by cleaning every piece of equipment in the hospital.
The Red Cross Socciety that we know of now came into being due to the hard work of Miss Cla Barton who in the year 1881, developed the programmed through which thousands of disaster victims could be helped.
She went on to become its leader and maintained the position for the next 20 years during which time any trained nurse would be found to be working shifts of 12 to 16 hours on any typical day under her guidance.